WARSAW – Polish President Andrzej Duda will propose that Nato member states raise the minimum level of defence spending to 3 per cent of economic output in his talks with US President Joe Biden.

Mr Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk are travelling to the United States to meet Mr Biden at the White House on March 12 as Warsaw seeks reinforcement of the defence alliance’s eastern flank in the face of the war in Ukraine, Poland’s neighbour.

Mr Duda, speaking before a meeting with Mr Tusk’s government and party leaders, said he wants to propose raising the spending threshold from 2 per cent in talks with all North Atlantic Treaty Organisation members, including Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on March 14.

“Nobody will dare to attack (a) strong Nato, strong nations that will be able to defend their borders,” Mr Duda said.

The proposal comes after Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential front runner, said he told a Nato ally during his presidency that he would encourage Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that did not meet the alliance’s defence spending obligations. BLOOMBERG